For Maynor, Fatherly Advice Set Pre-Draft Tone

When Eric Maynor began preparing for the 2009 NBA Draft, he received some sound advice from his father, George, who himself was drafted into the NBA by Chicago three decades ago but never got to play a game.

“My dad gave me the mindset that when I left college, you’re going out for a job now,” Maynor said. “Everywhere you go, now it’s an interview. And everywhere you go, you’ve got to be the best you can be.”

That’s the mindset Maynor took with him last June, when he visited eight teams for pre-draft workouts. So Maynor can relate to what the prospects of this year’s draft class are going through with pre-draft workouts well under way as the June 24 draft approaches.

Maynor was coming off a senior season at Virginia Commonwealth in which he was named the Colonial Athletic Association player of the year after averaging 22.4 points and 6.2 assists. He prepped for workouts on the VCU campus while finishing up coursework.

Heading into workouts, Maynor knew it would be a guard-heavy draft class that included Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday and Brandon Jennings. But in several pre-draft interviews, Maynor expressed confidence in his abilities.

“You’ve got some guys out there who are more of a combo guard, but I’m a true point guard,” he said then. “I think that is going to be a big key for me.”

Maynor did not visit Oklahoma City during his eight-team workout tour. But the Thunder, which acquired Maynor in a trade with Utah in late December, was on hand during a group workout, something many teams do.

Maynor said he wasn’t thrown for any loops during his workouts. Each of them centered on skill work and conditioning. And he said he didn’t feel much pressure, either.

“All in all, they’re just trying to get you ready and I think that was a good thing for me,” he said.

While Maynor didn’t work out for as many teams as teammate Byron Mullens (15), he agreed with Mullens that the biggest challenge was the travel. Maynor remembers being in an East Coast city during one day and boarding a flight to the West Coast later the same evening for a workout the next day. Folding his 6-3 frame into a coach seat wasn’t very comfortable, either.

“You’ve got a time difference, that’s three hours right there, and then you’ve got to work out for a West Coast team,” he said. “There’s just a lot of traveling for that. That was the main thing. It takes a lot out of your body.”